Stuart Finder, Ph.D.
VUMC ethicist Finder to take Cedars-Sinai post
Stuart Finder, Ph.D., senior associate director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society, is leaving Vanderbilt to become director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
“Stuart was the first ethicist ever to round regularly in the Vanderbilt MICU,” said Gordon Bernard, M.D., assistant vice chancellor for Research.
“He brought a systematic approach in the application of ethical principles to the everyday management of the critically ill. His calm, thoughtful approach to extremely difficult problems was of tremendous benefit to our practice and to the patients we serve. He will be sorely missed.”
“In many ways,” Finder said, “I will be taking the model I, along with my colleagues Mark Bliton and Dick Zaner, developed during the 1990s which allowed us not only to build a nationally recognized clinical ethics service, but also to develop innovative ethics participation in several clinical research studies.”
Finder came to VUMC in 1991 to work primarily as a clinical ethics consultant within VUH.
Later he assumed teaching responsibilities within the School of Medicine, and in 1993 began teaching the innovative “Freshman Seminar” course in the College of Arts and Science.
“In complex situations, working through the medical, legal and ethical issues and resolving them to the patient's, family’s and health care team's satisfaction can be very challenging,” said Julia Morris, J.D., deputy general counsel in the Office of General Counsel.
“Stuart has the gift of helping others to look at the issues from a different perspective and explore alternatives — not necessarily to find ‘the answer,’ but to address the many competing, and sometimes conflicting, points of view. Stuart will be greatly missed in these situations.”
Finder has served on the IRB, the Conflicts of Interest Committee, Committee for the Protection of and Access to Patients Electronic Records, the Medical Center Medical Board, and on a variety of curricular committees within VUSM.
“After 16 years of ethics work at Vanderbilt, we wish, with pride, Stuart well as he ascends to director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics, and Chief of Bioethics, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” said Wright Pinson, M.D., chief medical officer and associate vice chancellor for Clinical Affairs.
“This is an exciting opportunity for him personally and at the same time, a credit to our institution. We will miss him and wish him continued success.”